The Magnificent Seven around Gordon Brown

Fresh from the triumph of his 'speech of a lifetime', Gordon Brown is cracking on with his front-foot going forward strategy plan thing. It's all about cleaning up politics, and taking advantage of the return to calm after he saw off the plotters. It's being unveiled tomorrow but has already hit choppy water because of the decision to return Shahid "I'm as straight as they come thanks to my £800 £730 massage chair" Malik to the front bench. Mr Brown may argue natural justice, but the returned minister's response to the expenses thing hardly suggests someone who 'gets' the new zeitgeist.

The Brown recovery strategy is being thrashed out by the reconfigured team of advisers around the PM in the war-room of 12 Downing Street. With the promotion of Liam Byrne and the departure of Tom Watson, new bodies have been slotted into the gaps in the open plan office. The line-up around the horseshoe-shaped table looks like this: Peter Mandelson (First Lord Lord), Tom Fletcher (private secretary), Shriti Vadera (Gordon's Brain), Gavin Kelly (political secretary), David Muir (e-guy), Shaun Woodward (Con trustie) and Jeremy Heywood (de facto ruler), with Mr Brown in the middle. Michael Ellam and the spin duo of Michael Dugher and John Woodcock are nearby in the annex. Sue Nye must be around somewhere. Of the Magnificent Seven around the top table, Shaun Woodward is the interesting one, given my somewhat uncharitable suggestion a few days ago that he's lost out. Maybe he wasn't promoted in order to keep him close?